Copyright 2011 Image Credit: psammophile
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Copyright 2011 Image Credit: psammophile
Copyright 2011
It would be hard to miss all the recent news about global climate change, unless maybe you
were living on another planet
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And even then, if you had a good view of Earth, from a satellite or another planet, you
might notice that something was going on . . . Animation Credit: NASA
Copyright 2011 Photo Credits: Permafrost – Unite Us (University of Alaska); Seiner – Public Domain; Humboldt Squid – NOAA, public domain
Thawing Permafros
t
Changes in Alaska’s Fisheries
¿Estoy en México?
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Thousands of Walruses Crowding Onto Arctic
Beaches
Photos & Video: U.S. Geological Survey
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What do scientists think is causing these
changes?
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INCREASED GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor
Burning of fossil fuelsClearing of vegetationIncreased amounts of sun’s heat trapped
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Global Average Temperature and Carbon Dioxide Concentrations, 1880-2006
Global Temperatures CO2 (Mauna Loa)
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How much warming is from human
activity and how much from Earth’s
natural cycles?
Were there other warm climate periods during
Earth’s long history?
How can scientists study Earth’s
prehistoric climate patterns if there were no humans around to collect
data?
But there are still many questions to investigate
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At most, our direct scientific measurements of temperature, carbon
dioxide levels, etc., extend back only about 1½ to 2 centuries before
the present!
How can we go back in time to investigate prehistoric climate
changes?
Time for Climate
Detectives!
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OBJECTIVEInvestigate how modern
and ancient living organisms and their
adaptations provide clues to Earth’s climate history and processes that have affected Earth’s past &
present climate
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OBJECTIVEAnalyze fossil indicators to
determine past climate trends and their changes in ancient atmosphere, ocean, and land-based
systems.
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OBJECTIVEExperience how different scientific disciplines (e.g.,
geology, biology, oceanography) are interconnected in
conducting climate research
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A fossil indicator is a type of proxy data,
a special indirect clue about climate conditions when
direct measurements are not available
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And Earth’s prehistoric climate history,
reconstructed from fossils and other proxy data, is called palaeoclimate
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